The stars are bright
by hysteric
Summary: It's hours later and Snow knows Emma needs to talk even if her daughter insists otherwise. Post S2 finale. EmmaxNeal mentions. Charming family feels.


It's dark out and the seas have calmed when Snow realizes Emma is not near them. She lifts her cheek from the warm and safe crook of Charming's neck to look around. As if he knows, her husband does the same and they find her.

There is Emma, sat farthest from them all, looking out into the dark night before them all.

"I'll go and –" Snow begins.

Charming cuts her off with an understanding nod of his head. "Go," he softly agrees.

Snow can't help but gently brush her knuckles across his cheek and give him a warm smile. Then she is up and away, slowly going to join their daughter.

Their daughter who looks so very lost.

"Mind if I join you?" Snow asks.

Emma doesn't shift her gaze, but she does nod and Snow is soon sat down beside her.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nope," Emma answers in a raspy voice.

Snow smiles to herself. She recalls a time while cursed, when she had answered Emma just the same. Emma had stayed anyway, providing quiet comfort and Snow does the same now. There is no way she'll be going anywhere.

It's only that she can't be quiet.

"I'm so sorry about Neal," she whispers.

Emma makes a soft sound.

"So much is happening and you haven't had time to grieve."

"I'll stop and do that once I have Henry back," Emma tells her in a simple tone.

"You loved him," Snow says. It is not a question. There is not even an ounce of questioning in her voice. She knows. Of course she knows.

"I realized it too late, that's all," Emma whispers.

"He hurt you, Emma. He broke your heart. To keep it safe is not a sin."

"Now he's gone and I just feel like I wasted time," Emma says with a sad sigh. She looks down and clutches something in her hand. As her shoulders drop, Snow rests her hand upon her right one.

"What really happened?" Snow finds herself asking.

Emma sucks in a sharp breath and shudders. "Tamara shot him then opened a portal. I …"

"Emma, it's okay. You don't have to go on," Snow assures her daughter.

But Emma shakes her head. "No, no, I need this," she insists. "I had a hold on him. I held his hand and I refused to let him go. I couldn't let him go. Not when … but he told me to let go. To not let Henry be alone like we had both been."

"He was always being let go of," she whispers thickly. There is emotion there, so much and it is so telling.

Snow feels such sadness for her daughter and squeezes her shoulder.

"I needed him. It was selfish, too. I wanted him to stay. I really wanted Henry to have both of us because I never had that and I thought it would be so amazing, for Henry to have both his parents. And maybe down the road …"

Emma laughs and shrugs. "I loved him," she confirms. "And he loved me, too, but he was right. One of us had to stay and now he's gone to who knows where but I've lost Henry. I couldn't even keep our son safe after Neal sacrificed himself like that."

"Emma, no!" Snow says in alarm. "You are wrong. It's not your fault! Can't you see that? Bad things happen and we lose each other but in the end we always find each other again."

"Don't you ever get tired of it?" Emma asks. "Don't you ever just want to stop and say, no, this is it, we are finished losing each other? We are going to stay right here and, hell, handcuff ourselves together so it'll never happen again?"

And Snow laughs. "Yes, but, Emma, that isn't … it's not … this is life. This is our life. We love each other and that means something."

"I just wish I could save them both," Emma whispers. "I know we'll find Henry. I _know_ that, but I wish I could do the same for Neal."

Snow looks up, looks at the stars that are so very bright and smiles. "The stars are shining brighter than ever," she notes.

Emma sniffles and looks up, then gives her mother an incredulous look. "I'm not wishing on stars."

"I didn't tell you to," Snow reminds her.

Looking down at her hand again, Emma turns it and uncurls her fingers, revealing something very familiar. The swan pendant shines in Emma's palm.

"I thought you gave that back to Neal," Snow says, her eyes wide.

"I did," Emma confirms, "and then I took it back." She shrugs, "He stole it for me, and then I stole it back from him."

Snow laughs and finally wraps her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "That seems about right."


End file.
